The Past Controls the Future
by Aizelle
Summary: Zane and Ailee have known each other for a long time. He was like an older brother to her. When Zane changed, Ailee didn't know how else to get the Zane she knew back other than a duel. T for some language and other stuff. ZaneXOC
1. Reminiscence

**DISCLAIMER: Owning Yu-Gi-Oh GX would be awesome, but sadly, I don't. So there.**

**CLAIMER! Ailee Shirayuki is MINE! Deal with it.**

**~Thanks to Higuchimon for correcting my horrible understanding of Battle Mania and Command Knight (and many other things).**

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"Zane?"  
"Hm?" Zane Truesdale sat in his third grade classroom, eating lunch next to a second-grade girl named Ailee Shirayuki. He put down his chopsticks and looked at her. Even though Ailee was a whole year younger than he was, she was the only girl bold enough to return his gaze.  
"Could you… teach me how to duel?" Ailee knew Zane didn't duel in school often, but she had heard enough from her friends to know he was good at it. Their classmates sat in pairs, dueling one another. Every once in a while, a boy would ask Zane to duel, but he would politely decline. Every day for the past year and a half, Ailee had eaten lunch with Zane in silence.  
"Sure, why not. What's your reason for dueling?" Zane asked, taking his deck out of its dusty case.  
"A man gave me this card, and before I knew it, he was gone." Ailee laid a card down on the table. It was sealed in a protective casing, and the card looked to be in mint condition. Zane took a look at it, and as he picked it up, he read the name.  
"Dark Magician Gi-!"  
"Don't say it out loud!" Ailee whispered. "Everyone knows Yugi Muto is supposed to be the only person with this card."  
"I've never seen this card for real before." Zane gaped in awe.  
"I want become a good duelist so maybe someday I can thank him."  
After a long silence, Zane handed Dark Magician Girl back to Ailee and set the deck on the desk. "First off, you start the duel with five cards. Every turn, you draw one card. You can have up to five monsters and five trap or spell cards on the field at once. Traps have to be set for at least one turn before you can activate them. There are a lot of types of spell cards, so I'll explain them later.  
"Monster cards level four and under can be normal summoned without tributes. Level five and six are one tribute and level seven and higher are two. So those are the basics. Here," Zane said, handing Ailee the six cards in his hand. He then pulled out a second deck and sat opposite her. "You can take the first turn."  
"Okay..." They shuffled their decks and drew their hands. "My turn." Ailee took her time, reading each card's effect. "I activate the magic card Double Summon and use it to summon two Command Knights. I'll set one card face down and end my turn."  
A nod from Zane put a smile on Ailee's nervous face. "It's my turn. Since you have monsters, I can special summon Cyber Dragon from my hand. Then, I'll activate Different Dimension Capsule. I can choose one card from my deck and place it in the capsule. After two turns, I get it into my hand. I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"What's a plus sign and lightning bolt sign on the magic card mean?" Ailee asked.

"The plus sign is an equip spell. You can equip it to any monster on the field as long as the card doesn't have any specific requirements. The lightning bolt on is called a quick-play spell. It has one of the fastest playing speeds for spell and trap cards. It can be activated from your hand or you can set it and activate it like a trap," Zane explained.  
Zane and Ailee continued dueling, and other students gathered around them. Even the instructor stopped class to watch.

The duel became so heated that Ailee and Zane had to stand up to keep from yelling in each others' ears.  
"I summon Cyber Kirin! Then I'll play Power Bond to fuse my Cyber Dragons! Cyber End Dragon's attack points are doubled thanks to Power Bond. Attack Pitch-Black Warwolf!"

"Not so fast! I activate the quick-play spell Enemy Controller! I'll switch Cyber End Dragon to defense mode! Then I'll activate Raigeki Break! I discard one card to destroy your Cyber Kirin!"  
"Tch! I activate De-Fusion to send Cyber End to my extra deck and resurrect my three Cyber Dragons! I attack Warwolf!"  
"I activate the trap Negate Attack! It negates your Dragon's attack and ends the Battle Phase."

"I end my turn."

"My move then. I'll tribute my Exiled Force to destroy one of your dragons! I'll also tribute my Pitch-Black Warwolf to play Swordstalker! I attack a Cyber Dragon with 2800 ATK!"

"I use Sakuretsu Armor! When you attack, your monster is destroyed!"

"Then I'll throw down a face down and end my turn."  
"My turn! I use the magic of Polymerization to bring Cyber Twin Dragon to the field!"  
"I'll activate my own trap! It's called Bottomless Trap Hole. Since you special summoned your Cyber Twin and it has more than 1500 ATK, it's removed from play."  
"This is what you were up to. I activate the trap Call of the Haunted to resurrect Cyber Twin. I can't attack your Command Knights, so I can't do anything but set a face down. My turn is over."  
"And so is the duel. I play the magic card Heavy Storm! All your face downs are destroyed!

"I'm not going to let you win that easily! I chain that with Waboku! I take no damage for the rest of this turn."

"Then I'll normal summon Blade Knight and special summon Swordstalker with Monster Reborn. I end my turn."

"That was a close call," one of Zane's classmates commented.

"This turn will end the duel! I'll play Burial from a Different Dimension to put my monster back in my graveyard! Then I'll activate my own Monster Reborn and bring back my Cyber Twin Dragon!"

"That thing pops up more often than weeds in a garden! Even with 2800 ATK, it'll only tie with my Blade Knight!"

"You're not taking into account that I still have cards in my hand. One of them just happens to be Limiter Removal! It double's Cyber Twin's ATK to 5600!"

"Oh no!"

"That's right, Cyber Twin can attack," Zane held up two fingers, "twice!"

Ailee had put up a good fight, but lost the duel.

"Good duel, Zane," Ailee congratulated, putting out a hand.

Zane shook it. "Yeah. Good duel."

Why am I thinking about that? Zane wondered. I don't need to respect my opponent. I don't need the past. I don't need anything except _winning_.

He had received a letter from Ailee earlier that day saying she transferred to Duel Academy's Obelisk dorm. Zane thought for a moment, then stood up, now clad in dark clothing and wearing eyeliner. He folded his DA uniform and placed it in a cardboard box, along with a sealed envelope and several other things he wanted to forget. Then he taped the box shut and slapped a label on it. He dropped it off at the nearest post office and left quickly.  
"The old Zane… is gone."

**Well, that's a new story finally started. I am no good at titles, so forgive me if it makes no sense whatsoever. **

**Please rate/review and favorite. Concrit is most appreciated. **

**Until the next chapter ~CyberStardust**


	2. Mystery

**DISCLAIMER: Whoop-Dee-Doo. If I could own YGOGX it would be a dream come true.**

**CLAIMER: There is a whole bunch of stuff in here that is mine. Most importantly: Ailee = MINE! Deal with it.**

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All the students at Duel Academy sat in the lecture hall waiting for Dr. Crowler's dueling class to start. Suddenly, a DA staff member barged in and whispered something in Dr. Crowler's ear. A peculiar look fell upon his face when he heard the news. "Chancellor Sheppard would like to see all the Obelisk Blue girls in his office. I do hope none of you are in trouble."

The DA staff guy escorted the Obelisks to Chancellor Sheppard's office.  
"I wonder what this is about," Mindy said. She looked to Alexis. "I heard that it was a mysterious package."  
"Someone said it has to do with Ume Misawa," Jasmine butted in.  
"The transfer student?" Alexis turned and spotted Ume in the crowd. They'd met before, since she was Bastian's sister. "That's doubtful."  
The group reached the office and entered in pairs. Alexis and Ume were called in together. Chancellor Sheppard sat behind his desk.  
"I want you to know that no one is in trouble. I received a package that is addressed to Obelisk Ailee Shirayuki."  
Ume stiffened. "That would be me," she said softly.  
"But how-"  
"Sir, it's from Zane Truesdale. He's the only one that knows me by that name." Ume's voice began to quiver. "I never told him I changed my name when I was adopted."  
"Hmm, Alexis, could you return to class and bring Bastian here?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.  
"Of course."  
Alexis was back with Bastian on her heels.  
"Tell me, Bastian. Are you and Ume really related?" Sheppard asked.  
"She was adopted, sir," Bastian replied.  
"I believe that this belongs to you, then, Ailee." Chancellor Sheppard got up and handed Ume the box. It was rather large.  
"May I make one request?" Ume asked.  
"What would that be?"  
"Could I re-enroll with my real name?"

Sheppard granted Ailee's request and sent her and Alexis back to the dorms to open the package.  
"This is bad," Ailee muttered, pacing back and forth in front of the cardboard box.  
"Just open it," Alexis told her.  
"All right." Ailee peeled off the label and the tape and pulled open the flaps. Laying on top of yet another box was a stack of thick journals filled with entries written in several different pens and pencils. Ailee found the one marked "1" and read:  
Ailee,  
You know, I've been thinking about my first loss; your first duel. Do you remember it? I remember it well. I've used it to improve and it's a major obstacle that I have to overcome. I promise that I won't look down on dueling anymore. It's fun, especially with you.  
_Ailee,  
I still can't understand that fuzzy feeling I got when I heard you laugh. I can't help but think about you all the time. Ever since you moved, it feels like there are a thousand miles between us. I wish I could talk to you one more time.  
__Ailee,  
Thank you for the locket and the letter. I just couldn't express my feelings in the letter I sent back. Syrus loves the card you sent to him.  
__Ailee,  
Everyone's turned against me! They're all lies! Hundreds, even a thousand! I feel so lonely without you._  
Ailee began to cry, swiping at the tears that formed in the corners of her eyes. She curled up on the bed, and Alexis sat down next to her.  
"I didn't know Zane had a soft side," Alexis said.  
"He -hic- doesn't," Ailee said. "He can only write out his feelings. -sniff- Since he became such a famous duelist as a kid, he's had to be composed his entire life." She sat up and set the notebooks aside. Tearing the tape off the second box, Ailee reached inside and pulled out a single sheet of paper. It said:  
_My dearest Ailee,  
I'll bet you're wondering why I sent you this, but I can't explain. I've written this letter so many times over I've lost count, but one thing's for sure: I can't turn back now. Keep these safe. Please use them and continue my way of dueling. I love you. Someday, we'll meet again.  
Thank you and goodbye, Zane  
_"What could be so important that he would send them here?" Alexis wondered, blushing a little. What's with that note? Love? That's not Zane's thing, she thought to herself.  
Ailee glanced inside the box and picked up something wrapped in a handkerchief. Tucked inside was... "Zane's Cyber Dragon deck! What could he be doing without this? And his uniform! He **always** wears this! What happened to him?"

**Ooh, cliffhanger. Kind of a short chapter. Sorry. A/N Ume Misawa and Ailee Shirayuki are one in the same. From now on, Ailee is Ailee. **

**I'm out of inspiration!**

**Thanks for reading the chapter! Please review.**

**Until the next chapter ~CyberStardust**


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